ZShadow
"Can you hear the sonorous echoes of my foul plots echo through the hellscape? Can you hear my machinations approach ever closer to completion, like a rapist inching slowly towards his prey in the madness of night? Can you not feel that my adminship is close, that my schemes are fulfilled just as the lonely virgin is expended before my perverse desire...can you not yet perceive that my rule is upon you?" - ZShadow, to a group a mods shortly before becoming an Administrator ZShadow, the Arch-Heretic, so named for his lust for power in the face of all rational for moderation and later adminship, was a Kongregate administrator best known for his draconian rule, directed (and persistent) harassment of certain players, insistence on treating his position as that of an autocrat, banning those who voiced disagreement with him, etc. ZShadow, after brutal rise followed by a long and cruel reign of many years, was finally outmaneuvered and exiled from Kongregate. Officially, he was said to have retired, however, according to comments made by the moderators donseptico and rudgutter, his downfall was actually much less subdued than portrayed. ZShadow departed as near universally hated figure, his policies and actions having left countless ostracized and silenced. Rise to Power "Long shall be your suffering. Joyous be your pain." - Asteroth, Daemon Prince of Slaanesh Little is known about the earliest years of the Arch-Heretic, however, what is known is that he rose to modship quite quickly, the result of tireless sycophantism to those in power. Those acquainted with ZShadow at the time would later describe him as near single-minded in his pursuit of power, possibly because he had been snubbed by a mod or administrator himself. It was but a stray storm cloud to warn of the hurricane that would soon envelope Kongregate. The God-Mod "In every room I go to, I am god. And every room is eventually mine." - ZShadow, before he became an Admin When ZShadow became a mod, he dropped all pretentions and began the behavior that he would become known for. Based on fragmentary accounts, it is known that he showed very little mercy as a mod, and made no effort to communicate with players. It is confirmed that ZShadow was once reprimanded for never warning users verbally, instead moving to a silence or ban directly. Associates claim ZShadow was never a room mod, rather, he acted as a self-described "mercenary," essentially responding to modcalls constantly. He became well known for these quick responses, and the brutal suppression which followed them. Although others reached out to him, he reportedly was quite vitrolic, and thought extremly highly of himself and his abilities. Nevertheless, almost all those who encoutered him during this time claim that, at first, he was content and proud of his modship - but soon, the lust for power began to possess him towards ever greater thrones. At the time, Kongregate was experiencing a rapid expansion, and the workload was becoming heavy. ZShadow knew this meant two very clear things; # The Admins would soon need to increase their numbers; # In addition to this, the pressure combined with the already difficult workload meant that canidates would not be judged as throughly as they might otherwise be; # Furthermore, the testimony of ordinary users would be ignored in the rush, and ZShadow's fellow mods would be too hard pressed to campaign against him. Essentially, all ZShadow had to do was impress the admins. He did so. ZShadow tirelessly continued his efficient methods of silencing first and asking questions later, in order to increase his ratings while not having to deal with the hassle of actually moderating. At the same time, confident in his impending success, ZShadow became more and more demeaning to his fellow moderators. By the time they decided they would actively rally against him, it was too late - ZShadow had been appointed an administrator, and; due to his successes in discipline given oversight of the site's disciplinary measures. Lord High Administrator "Order is the only broken dream yet holding Kongregate together. And there will be order. My order." - ZShadow As soon as he became an Administrator, ZShadow began purging the ranks of mods who had opposed his ascension. A quick complaint to appear was that he ignored due process, instead demodded people at will. However, he was able to avoid punishment by promoted people he said would more better. He claimed he had seen these players during his time as a normal mod, and that they were upstanding and very active users. In realty, the new mods were actually the few who had managed to get on ZShadow's good side during his brutal modcalls. Out of these users, he selected the most loyal (or most sycophantic to ZShadow) as his new mods. Soon, ZShadow had assembled a force of moderators which could lend his decisions some legitimacy if they ever came to a popular vote. Unfortunately for ZShadow, his new order quickly collapsed. ZShadow's simple goals of power were now convoluted by his new workload - and at the same time, the mods he had appointed were ineffective, and one by one were struck down. Soon, ZShadow's new order was gone, as was his initial welcome. He was now expected to be professional, though he had his own ideas in mind. The initial undoing of ZShadow's moderators was but the first setback in his plans - and just as his plans tendriled outwards at every turn, this setback would only the be first. Besides various interpersonal problems caused by his attitude, ZShadow managed to stay somewhat innocuous in the eyes of the other administrators. That would all change when the true extent of his temper would be revealed. The BlueFox Incident "I've had enough of being told my decisions need to be judged by others. I've had enough of waiting for the approval of others to act as I must. I've had enough of being opposed." - ZShadow, to TrickeyRodent during the BlueFox incident In order to halt the cycle of quickly promoting and demoting new mods, the administrators set up a court system whereby each case would be decided on by a jury of sorts, rather than at the discretion of individual administrators. The system worked smoothly as first, until a particular case. ZShadow had wanted to remove a room owner in order to give the room he was in charge of to another candidate, specifically a friend of ZShadow. Rather than explain why he wanted to have the mod change his room, ZShadow decided to use alts, and the friend who wanted the room (who was a normal user in the room at the time) to force the room owner to overreact in a way that would justify a trial to determine if he should be demodded. Unfortunately for ZShadow, his candidate executed his part of the scheme poorly, and it became obvious the room owner was being set up. Nevertheless, ZShadow convened the trial anyway. He hoped that, since technically whether the action was a set-up made no difference on the mod's reaction, this would be ignored. However, the besieged room owner had contacted many about his plight, and support was outpouring. A particularly ardent supporter was a mod known as BlueFox, of UMAG fame. BlueFox had recently been commended for his handling of the once unmanageable UMAG rooms, and was well-respected amongst fellow mods and users alike. BlueFox petitioned TrickeyRodent and ZShadow throughout the trial, and TrickeyRodent, after a long argument, finally managed to get ZShadow to allow BlueFox to serve on the committee. Unfortunately, BlueFox had done some investigation of his own, and had used a packet sniffer to identify some of the trouble makers the room owner was in trouble for punishing as ZShadow alts. BlueFox demonstrated that ZShadow had used a proxy to use the alts, and had thus staged the whole situation. ZShadow was furious, and immediately used his powers to demod both BlueFox and the room owner. For his failure to carry out his part gracefully, ZShadow permanently banned the co-conspirator as well, thus convening the trial and leaving the room without an owner. TrickeyRodent was furious, and immediately threatened to bring ZShadow's actions to the attention of the Greer site administrators. However, ZShadow claimed his network of loyal mods was still in place, and thus any action TrickeyRodent took would lack popular support of the mods. ZShadow pointed out that, if he would go to such methods to replace a single room owner, he had surely infiltrated the site quite deeply. She backed down. ZShadow declared the committee system defunct, reverting to a system were all moderator discipline was handled as his discretion. Needless to say, the move created some enemies, the most prominent in Paradise being Eonian. Unaware of how ZShadow had scared TrickeyRodent off, several players tried to confront ZShadow, only to find themselves silenced or banned. ZShadow had won again, but his façade was gone. God of Kongregate "My power is absolute, and yet my enemies crawl back to fight me. My dream is already fulfilled, and yet still the blind basterds try and thwart it." - ZShadow From this point onwards, ZShadow acted with near absolute authority. The only time he exercised caution was when his actions might be noticed by the Greers, since by this time the site administrators were the only ones who could defeat him. The numerous injustices and infractions executed by ZShadow throughout this time period are beyond the scope of this article to even list. Suffice to say, his behavior continued unabated, albeit emboldened by his newfound status and power. But, just as players he told to stay away always came back, his enemies didn't accept his rule. In secret chatrooms and messages, the myriad individuals he estranged plotted their own machinations and schemes. For in his arrogance, in his lust to look the part of terror, ZShadow allowed evidence to be collected and amassed. From simple screenshots to the logs of packet sniffers, ZShadow's every action was cataloged beyond the deniability of simply pointing to editing software. ZShadow's downfall would one not unlike his rise - a time of shock and rage. However, ZShadow maintained his practices of using alts and devious sycophants to further his intelligence. He quickly learned evidence was being collected, and as a result, incidents on the level of the BlueFox fiasco would not occur. Though continuing to put his own interests first, ZShadow knew he would have to avoid public spectacles. As a result, the final chapters of ZShadow's saga would be played out in arcane obscurity. Downfall It is the fate of the passive and the blind to die unknown, and the destiny of the vengeful and the cunning to rule for eternity." - ZShadow For one of such dramatics and determination, ZShadow's reign ended rather disappointingly. Despite his half-heartened efforts to avoid trouble, the evidence against him amassed regardless. To add weight to their task, those collecting the evidence knew that ZShadow was a paid employee, and his behavior was inexcusable. In early 2014, TrickeyRodent presented Jim Greer with a rather didactic list of ZShadow's actions, ranging from blackmailing and rigging moderator promotions to being overly rude to regular users. After studying the contents of the files for a few days, ZShadow was at last informed his position had become precarious. Jim Greer personally informed ZShadow that the evidence amassed was potentially grounds for not only a swift and permanent ban but a legal suit, and if ZShadow choose to fight for his position, even he would not be to scheme through such a complicated and interconnected web of battlegrounds. And so, ZShadow was given a choice reminiscent of those faced by numberless politicians: resign or else. And so, after years of tyranny and torment, the one who once who proclaimed himself god of these domains quietly abandoned his post. His legions of alts were left untended, his scores of sycophants left without reward for their willful servitude. As quickly as he had risen, ZShadow had passed away. Amongst those who discussed in secret his crimes, there was rejoice - especially among those who know the full extant. Future "The minds of gods are not for mortals to know or to judge. Accept that Tzeentch has a place for all of us in his grand scheme, and be happy in the part you have to play." - Magnus the Red And yet, lust never truly dies. Lust dissipates for a moment. Perhaps you have repressed it, perhaps the object of your desire granted to you. Regardless of why or how it is sated, lust always returns, and lust for power is the most forceful of them all. Few know where ZShadow lurks today. Perhaps years of manipulation tired him faster than the constant narcissistic buoys could rejuvenate him, and he has accepted his fate with relief rather then rage. Or perhaps his monolithic pride prevails still, perhaps even now the aforementioned sycophants and alts are being arrayed into sleeper cells, preparing for the eventual (and inevitable) return of the Arch-Heretic. But one thing can be known for sure - ZShadow plots. For him, to exist is to think, and to think is to scheme. Perhaps his modern plots are miniscule, perhaps his goals are now rendered asinine. But as long one plots, one longs. What difference can there be between the longing of the orphan for food or the longing of the glutton for health? Both ask for the same thing, and in the threads of time, little distinction will be made between their starting points - only their success will be remembered. In the same way, what difference can the will of ZShadow be in terms of malignance when it is directed to driving a car as opposed to ruling a community? For though the immediate consequence of each is different, it's purpose is not. And so, ZShadow thus plots. Perhaps his new dreams are pitiful in comparison to the old, but he plots regardless. And in the relativity of thought, eventually his goals will once more fixate themselves on the power he once could touch. When that day comes, perhaps the Arch-Heretic will visit Kongregate once more. Perhaps he will have found a new trophy to command. But the day will come, and the Arch-Heretic will once more proclaim his lust over the masses.